Includes: From the folks who brought you the Dish Network for satellite viewing, Sling has a skinnier color-coded channel lineup than others. The "Orange" offering has some popular channels, like ESPN, CNN and Comedy Central, but it's missing big ones like CBS, ABC and PBS. The "Blue" offering, also for $25, has a more sports-oriented lineup. (You can get both Blue and Orange combined for $40 monthly.) Many favorites may be missing from "Blue" or "Orange" for you. For instance, if you like MSNBC and CNBC, you'll have to pay $5 more monthly for the "News Extra:" package. To get TCM, look for the Hollywood Extra package, MTV and TV Land are in the Comedy extra offering. All add $5 each monthly. Nickelodeon is missing from all of them.
The Sling TV local channel offering is dependent on your level of service, your geographic location, and Sling TV’s contractual and other rights to distribute local channels. Not all local channels may be purchased from Sling TV today, and some local channel content may include blackout restrictions. Explore our channels and discover what service you need to receive them here.

I need to be able to watch POWER on STARZ….LBVS I pay $255.00 to ATT a bundle deal, too much, for a land line I don’t use, cable channels I don’t watch and the internet. I need the internet to connect to other options…right??? They don’t seem to appreciate your membership. They don’t offer suggestions, advice and/or options. You tell what your need, they let you do all the talking. It’s like they are not interesting in keeping you as a valued customer. IJS

With the exception of Sling, all five services continue to add local channels in an attempt to sign up viewers. Because most local stations, aka network affiliates, are owned by companies other than one of the big four networks in question, they usually require separate contracts with providers like streaming services, cable systems and satellite networks.

Showtime Online has a unique service of being able to be added on to other services that you may already subscribe to. For $9 a month, it can be added to Amazon Prime and Hulu and for $11, Playstation Vue. Showtime offers you award-winning series like Dexter, Weeds and House of Lies as well as a large selection of movies including action, comedies and dramas added each month. The stand-alone service is $11 and it offers both live viewing and streaming.

Your options get a little thinner after the skinny bundles, but there are some other apps to consider. One of these is CBS All Access, which offers local feeds of CBS stations to certain customers. Once again, you'll have to live in certain areas to get the live feeds – and, once again, you can find out how good the deal is for your region by checking out the service's week-long free trial via the link below. CBS All Access costs $5.99/month (you can pay more to get rid of commercials, but that only affects the on-demand content, not the live TV). You can read our full review of CBS All Access here.

The chart -- which is too big to fit on this page, so I made it a Google spreadsheet -- answers the question of which streaming local channels are available where. You see, just because a service like DirecTV Now offers Fox, that doesn't mean it offers your local Fox station live. If you live in Asheville, Las Vegas or Schenectady, for example, DirecTV Now doesn't carry your local Fox station. Hulu and YouTube TV do, however.

Now consider all of the services we've mentioned above, not even factoring in the cost of buying a media hub or smart TV if needed. Assuming you need subscriptions to all of them to get as thorough a cross section of channels as you'd get with cable, it's not cheap. Remember, all these prices are before applicable tax and with the lowest tier of service.

"2018 review: Fubo has come a long way in a year. The streams are much more stable, the channel lineup has solidified, and VOD and DVR options keep improving. Fire TV now has the Video On Demand options you'll find on other platforms along with updated support for the 500 hour DVR. Yes, the interface is clunky on Fire TV and there is no quick way to flip between channels. This isn't like watching cable tv, and it's not supposed to be."